From turf to SWAT, and back again

She's an ex-cop, a three-time first-team All American, the founder of Ultimate Goal Lacrosse Club and a 14-year veteran of the women's national team. Assistant women's lacrosse coach Michele DeJuliis — or DJ, as her fellow coaches and players call her — is a strong, ambitious woman with a passion for playing and teaching lacrosse.

"DJ's real tough, and she's a no-excuses kind of person," head coach Chris Sailer said. "She really raises the bar in terms of what's expected from [the team], what they're able to give, to do, in terms of their training."

This toughness and maintenance of high standards has translated into a great talent for playing and coaching. A 1998 graduate of Penn State, DeJuliis led her team to the NCAA semifinals in 1995 and has been a member of the U.S. National Team since 1994. In 2001, she founded Ultimate Goal Lacrosse, a Philadelphia-based organization of club lacrosse teams.

A couple years after graduating from Penn State, DeJuliis moved back to her home city of Baltimore, switching her primary focus from lacrosse to law enforcement. During her time as a cop in the Baltimore City Police Department, she served as first as a patrol officer and then as a detective. She earned both the Meritorious Conduct Award and the Police Commissioner's Award of Excellence.

"I had always wanted to become a cop," DeJuliis said. "My roommates were also police officers, so it helped me along. I just figured one day I was just going to go for it — I just wanted to get that excitement and see what it was really like."

She left the police force in fall 2004 to take the job at Princeton, feeling a need to devote her full attention to lacrosse. Her experience in law enforcement, however, has affected her current coaching style, from fitness to general discipline.

For example, DeJuliis drew inspiration from her SWAT training to create several of the team drills. One of these workouts involves her leading a long-distance run with periodic "breaks" for push-ups and sit-ups, making the entire team count their repetitions out loud. This past fall, the seniors wore her SWAT uniforms for their Halloween workout.

"We love the fact that she was a part of [the police force]," senior defender Caitlin Reimers said. "It's really added a tough mentality to our team. She doesn't let us get away with anything ... I wouldn't say that she's at all militaristic in her coaching style, but she definitely will bring it into fitness drills."

DeJuliis must maintain her own fitness and skills for the National Team's yearly tryouts. As the team's oldest member, she must stay in top physical condition to retain her position on the roster. In contrast with many other coaches, DeJuliis actually does the drills with the team.

"Instead of having a coach with a whistle and a stopwatch standing on the track, you actually have your coach doing it with you and coaching along the way," senior attack Kathleen Miller said. "[It] makes it a lot easier."

Sailer agrees that DeJuliis' hands-on approach is particularly effective.

"They see what she's able to do, and that inspires them," Sailer said. "No one can do more sit-ups and push-ups than DJ, and, if the coach can do it, she can push them to do it."

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As a current player and coach, DeJuliis is also able to track developments of the game from two different angles, adding an extra dimension to her abilities.

As she learns new intricacies of the game, she shares her growing knowledge with the team.

"I was moved to midfield last year, which was a really new position for me and she spent countless hours working with me, on my shooting," Reimers said. "In terms of just a player on the field, she is an extremely aggressive and dynamic player. I love playing against her when we scrimmage."

With her police background, she must make for quite a tenacious opponent.